Combined fan and cutter



E. RUSSWURM ET AL.

COMBINED FAN AND CUTTER Filed June 1'7, 1935 Patented Dec. 15, 1936UNITED STATES PATEN QFFICE COMBINED FAN AND CUTTER Application June 1'7,1935, Serial No. 26,941 In Canada July 6, 1934 6 Claims.

This invention relates to combined fans and cutters and moreparticularly tothose adapted for use in connection with athreshing-machine for stacking the straw discharged therefrom, and ourobject is to provide apparatus of this character which may be readilyand quickly converted to act as an ordinary fan or as a combined fan andcutter to produce short straw, which will require a minimum ofadditional power for operation as a combined machine, and which can bemanufactured at 'a very slight additional expense over that of anordinary fan.

We attain our objects by providing the usual fan vanes with cuttingblades which extend radially beyond the peripheries of the vanes. Thefan casing is provided with slots through which cutting blades areadapted to be moved into and out of position for co-operation with theblades on the vanes. The casing cutting blades are arranged in setsaround the periphery of the casing remote from the outlet thereof. The

sets of blades on the vanes are staggered relative to one anotheraxially of the casing so that they pass between different blades in eachset of the casing blades. The inlet in the side of the casing is solocated as to bring it more or less into alinement with the outlet. Thelatter communicates with the usual discharge or stacker pipe andshredder bars are arranged across the peripheral Wall of the fan casingto position the material so that the rotary blades will cut it intoshreds. The casing blades are so mounted that they may be readily movedthrough the slots into and out of position for co-operation with therotary cutting blades. The shredder bars are so carried that they may bereadily removed from the casing or repositioned therein for cooperationwith the rotary blades.

The constructions are hereinafter more fully described and areillustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of the inlet side of our apparatus showing the casing cuttingblades in their operative position;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of the opposite side of the apparatus showingthe casing blades in their inoperative position;

Fig. 3 a longitudinal section of our apparatus when used as a fan andcutter;

Fig. 4 a sectional detail on the line 4-4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 a plan view of the fan and showing the casing bladesdiagrammatically; and

Fig. 6 a sectional detail on the line 6-6 in Fig. 1.

In the drawing like numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin the different figures.

l is a fan casing having an inlet 2 and an outlet 3, the lattercommunicating with a discharge pipe 3 A shaft l journalled in the casingcarries a fan 5 whichincludes a hub 5 having a plurality of radiallydirected arms 5* on which the vanes 5 are carried. Cutting blades 6 arecarried by the vanes 5 and project radially beyond the outer ends 5thereof for co-operation with relatively stationary cutting blades 1 andshredder bars 8, 8 carried by the casing l.

The blades I are arranged in sets, each set being carried on a spindle 7which is journalled in brackets 9 secured to opposite sides of thecasing. The brackets 9 project beyond the outer periphery of the casingand the spindles '1 extend across. the peripheral wall I thereof. Thesaid Wall is provided with slots l0 adapted to permit the passage of theblades 7 therethrough so that these blades may be moved into and out ofposition for co-operation with the rotary blades 6. The latter are alsoarranged in sets on the vanes 5, the number of blades 8 in each setbeing fewer than the number of blades 7 in each set thereof. The sets ofrotary blades 6 are staggered relative to adjacent sets so that theywill pass on different sides of the casing blades 1 and thus betweendifferently positioned blades in the sets of blades 1. That is to say,while two or more rotary blades 6 of each set pass between the relativestationary blades 1 of each set in, the casing, the first set of blades6 pass say, to the left of a corresponding number of blades 1 in eachset thereof, the next set of rotary blades 6 will pass to the left of acorre sponding number of different blades I in each set thereof and thenext two sets of rotary blades 6 may be arranged to pass between thesame blades 1 as those in the first and second sets of blades 6.Referring to Fig. 5, the blades 6 on vane 5 pass to the left of thesecond, third and fifth blades 1 in each set of casing blades, theblades 6 on vane 5 pass to the left of the first, fourth and sixthblades l, the blades 6 on vane 5 pass to the left of the second, thirdand fifth blades 1, and the blades 6 on vane 5 pass to the left of thefirst, fourth and sixth blades 1. With this arrangement the straw orother material passing through the casing is cut or broken into shortlengths with a minimum of power in addition to that required to run thefan.

To shred the material cut by the blades 6 and I, we provide a pluralityof bars 8 and a bar 8 which extend across the peripheral wall I of thecasing l for co-operation with the rotary blades 6. These bars arespaced slightly out of the path of the blades 6 but are adapted toposition the cut material passing over the bars into the path of thesaid blades so that the material will be shredded by the passage of theblades therethrough. That is to say, the short lengths of material arecut or broken longitudinally into shreds. The bars 8 are provided withlongitudinal grooves i8 and the bar 8 which is located adjacent theoutlet 3, is serrated and the serrations project close to the path ofthe rotary blades 6.

Two sets of blades 1 are located substantially diametrically oppositethe outlet 3 and the third set of blades l is located intermediate thefirst mentioned sets thereof and the outlet 3. The inlet 2 is offsetrelative to the axis of the fan to bring it more into alinement with theoutlet and is provided with a hopper i2 formed as a flange extendinglaterally from the inlet side of the casing l. Preferably the inlet issubstantially semicircular and is concentric with the casing, the chordextending from a point adjacent the inner side of the discharge pipe.The hopper is substantially L-shaped to follow part of the curvedcontour of the inlet 2 and to extend along the side of the dischargepipe 3*. The hopper is provided with a straw guide 2 located adjacent tobut above the point where the straight part of the hopper wall joins thecurved part. This guide inclines outwardly from; the casing to thehopper wall both longitudinally and transversely. The result is that, asstraw is fed down the hopper with individual straws parallel to thecasing, the forward ends of the straws are deflected outwardly beforebeing drawn inwardly through the inlet. The right angled turn of thestraw is thus greatly facilitated and the straw enters the fan casing inthe best position to be carried round and cut and shredded. With thisconstruction the maximum suction is obtained and the material to be cutis drawn into the fan at a point where its passage to the knives andover the shredder bars is facilitated.

It will be noted that the guide 2* is located adjacent the discharge 3but as only lengths of straw enter the inlet, there will be no danger oftheir being discharged before they are cut into shorter lengths.

To enable the apparatus to be readily and quickly converted for use as afan, We provide means for swinging the blades 1 to their inoperativeposition and we carry the bars 8, 8 so that they may be readily removedfrom the casing I. A rod I2 is secured in any suitable manner to thefree ends of the blades 1, one rod l2 being secured to the blades ofeach set of blades l. Each rod 12 has an arm !3 pivotally connected withone end thereof and each arm passes freely through a keeper I4 securedto the side of the casing l. The arms are notched to engage the keepersto retain the blades 1 in their operative position and are provided withhand grips whereby the notches may be disengaged from the keepers byshifting the arms laterally. The arms may then be shifted longitudinallythrough the keepers to cause the blades to be swung to their inoperativeposition. The opposite sides of the casing I are provided with openingsIS, the openings at one side of the casing being adapted to permit thepassage of the bars 8, 8 therethrough and the openings at the other sideof the casing being adapted to receive the ends of the bars. Theopenings are normally closed by retainers I6 which are pivoted on thesides of the casing l to engage the ends of the bar to prevent them fromshifting longitudinally. Each bar may be provided with a handle 8 whichextends through a small slot in the wall l of the casing.

It will be distinctly understood that the blades 6, l and bars 8, 8 maynot be sharpened sufficiently to actually out the material but may onlybreak it, and that the terms cutting, out and uncut used throughout thespecification and claims are intended to include breaking, break andunbroken respectively.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A combined fan and cutter including a plurality of rotary vanes;cutting blades carried by the vanes; a fan casing provided with anoutlet pipe and a suction inlet; and sets of cutting blades pivotallymounted on the casing, each set being adapted to be swung into and outof position for co-operation with the rotary cutting blades, the sets ofcasing cutting blades being arranged in spaced relationship around thecasing opposite the outlet, and the inlet being elongated and offsetrelative to the axis of the rotary vanes in a direction to bring ittowards a position of alinement with the outlet pipe.

2. A fan including a casing and vanes mounted to rotate therein; cuttingblades carried by the vanes and extending radially beyond their outerends, the casing having a plurality of slots through its periphery; aspindle journalled on the casing; cutting blades carried by the spindlefor passage through the slots and co-operation with the cutting bladeson the vanes; an arm pivotally connected with the cutting blades on thespindle; and means for releasably locking the arm to retain the cuttingblades on the spindle in their operative position.

3. A combined straw blower and cutter comprising a fan casing having atangential discharge pipe and an axial suction inlet, the said inletbeing approximately semi-circular with its curved edge substantiallyconcentric with the fan casing and its chord extending from a pointadjacent the inner side of the discharge pipe at a small angle relativethereto; a fan rotatably mounted in the casing; co-operating radialstraw cutters mounted on the casing and fan respectively; a strawshredder bar carried by the casing for co-operation with the strawcutter on the fan to shred the straw out by the cutters; a hoppercomprising a flange extending laterally from the side of the casingpartly following the curve of the inlet and extending longitudinally ofthe discharge pipe; and a straw guide positioned at the junction of thecurved part of the hopper with the part extending longitudinally of thedischarge pipe and shaped to direct straw passing down the hoppersomewhat outwardly from the inlet before it is drawn by suctionthereinto.

4. In a combined fan and cutter the combination of a fan casing having atangential discharge outlet; a rotor provided with vanes; sets ofcutting blades secured to the vanes; sets of cutting blades secured tothe casing for co-operation with the vane blades, the casing having aninlet opening adjacent the outlet of substantially semi-circular formpositioned with the chord extending from a point adjacent the inner sideof the outlet; and an open sided hopper formed as a curved flangeextending from the 7 casing along the lower side of the opening andhaving a substantially straight portion extending tangentially from thecurved side of the opening along the side of the outlet to guide strawdown to the hopper.

5. In a combined fan and cutter the combination of a fan casing having atangential discharge outlet; a rotor provided with vanes; sets ofcutting blades secured to the vanes; sets of cutting blades secured tothe casing for co-operation with the vane blades, the casing having aninlet opening adjacent the outlet of substantially semicircular formpositioned with the chord extending from a point adjacent the inner sideof the outlet; an open sided hopper formed as a curved flange extendingfrom the casing along the lower side of the opening and having asubstantially straight portion extending tangentially from the curvedside of the opening along the side of the outlet to guide straw down tothe hopper; and a straw guide located at and above the junction of thecurved part of the hopper with the part extending longitudinally of thedischarge pipe and inclined outwardly from the casing to the hopper todirect straw passing down the hopper somewhat outwardly from the inletbefore it is drawn by suction thereinto.

6. In a combined fan and cutter the combination of a fan casing having atangential discharge outlet; a rotor provided with vanes; sets ofcutting blades secured to the vanes; sets of cutting blades secured tothe casing for co-operation with the vane blades, the casing having aninlet opening formed with a curved lower side adjacent the outlet andsubstantially concentric with the fan casing; an open sided hopperformed as a curved flange extending from the casing along the curvedside of the opening and having a substantially straight portionextending tangentially from the curved side of the opening along theside of the outlet to guide straw down to the hopper; and a straw guidelocated at and above the junction of the curved part of the hopper withthe part extending longitudinally of the discharge pipe and inclinedoutwardly from the casing to the hopper to direct straw passing down thehopper somewhat outwardly from the inlet before it is drawn by suctionthereinto.

ELIAS RUSSWURM. NOAH RUSSWURM.

